Horseshoe Crabs and Velvet Worms
by Richard Fortey
- Percentage of approved critics who have given this book a positive review.
Critic Rating
83%
Critic Reviews: 12
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- User rating from iDreamBooks & iTunes
Reader Rating
66%
Reader Ratings: 22
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Synopsis
From one of the world's leading natural scientists and the acclaimed author of Trilobite!, Life: A Natural History of Four Billion Years of Life on Earth and Dry Storeroom No. 1 comes a fascinating chronicle of life's history told not through the fossil record but through the stories of organisms that have survived, almost unchanged, throughout time. Evolution, it seems, has not completely obliterated its tracks as more advanced organisms have evolved; the... more
About Richard Fortey
- All Critics: 12
- Positive: 11
- Negative: 1
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The New York Times | 18 May 2012
Whether it’s Yellowstone or Newfoundland or China, Fortey vividly describes the many places he goes.
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The New York Times | 12 Apr 2012
Yet his book is not only well built and witty but emotionally profound too. It’s the work of a survivor appraising other survivors.
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Knopf Doubleday | 1 Apr 2012
Written in buoyant, sparkling prose, Horseshoe Crabs and Velvet Worms is a marvelously captivating exploration of the world’s old-timers combining the very best of science writing with an explorer’s sense of adventure and wonder.
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Boston.com | 15 Apr 2012
In a pitch to the 10-year-old fossil-collector trapped inside us all, Fortey cheerfully exhorts us to keep looking, for “[t]here is still so much to learn.”
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Kirkus Reviews | 11 Apr 2012
Informative, engrossing and delightful.
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Nonsuch Book | 14 Apr 2012
Flutters. Bewitching. Soon to be mine.
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The Wall Street Journal | 14 Apr 2012
Amazingly, none of this feels repetitive. With each book Mr. Fortey continues to put together what he once described as his "jigsaw puzzle fabricated of scraps and dreams," rearranging the pieces in light of new published research and his own evolving thoughts.
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Lawrence Millman | 2 Apr 2012
Elegantly written and often very funny, this book provides an excellent complement to Piotr Naskrecki’s primarily photographic work Relics
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Yakima Herald | 18 Apr 2012
I'm sure science nuts have this book on their radar; it was previously published in England, and has garnered some deservedly great reviews. However, its technical nature shouldn't discourage casual readers. It's one of those rare, thoroughly enjoyable books on a serious subject.
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Physics Database | 22 Apr 2012
Rischard Fortey uses his charisma and extensive knowledge of biology and evolution to tell the great story of live throughout the history of our planet. In conclusion, I would highly recommend this one to all who have an interest in biology.
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Sandwalk | 15 Apr 2012
I might be interested in a lengthy discussion about the different between natural selection and random genetic drift and/or a discussion about the kinds of morphological changes that have been observed recently among the four living species of horseshoe crabs but I doubt that would be in Fortey's book.
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Publishers Weekly | 13 Feb 2012
Despite the odd title, even those squeamish about worms will find Fortey’s enthusiastic excavations charming.
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